Lubricating device for bearings.



"NO. 736,376.-` PATENTED V AUG-.18, 1903'.

' r J.v D. PORRBR. y y

Y LUBRIGATING DEVICE FOR BEARINGS.

` APPLIUATIOF FILED DEG. 26,'1901. mnonm.. v

v der Tu: cams mms co., Puorouma. wAsnmoron, n.1;

PATENT Patented August 18,1905. p

EEICE. t

JOSEPH D. FORRER, OF .IOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- sY'LvANIA.

LUBRICATING DEVICE FOR BEARINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 736,376, dated August 18, 1903. Application filed December 26. 1901. Serial No. 87.326. (No model.)

.T a/Z Vwhom it may concern:

t Be itknown that I, JOSEPH D. FORREE, of Johnstown,in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement. in Lubricating Devices for Bearings, of which the following is afull,

clear, and exact description, reference being y had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in lubricating devicesforbearings,particularly adaptedforuse Where oil-cups cannot well be employed and Where the bearing cannot be closely watched I5 and of that type in which the lubricant is conveyed to the bearing-surfaces of the journal by means of the capillary action of a wick.

The object of my invention is to increase eo the efiiciency of lubricating devicesof the above-described type by so arranging the parts that the discharge of lubricant from the wick is facilitated by gravity and by providing means whereby the Wick is positively held z5 out of contact with the rotating journal. This last-named feature I find to be of considerable importance, since where the VWick is alloWed to rest on the rotating journal the rubbing action of the latter soon destroys the 3o capillary action of the end portion of the wick to such an extent as to prevent or greatly limit the discharge of oil therefrom.

With this object in view myinvention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in end elevation, of

4o a bearing embodying my invention.

In the drawingjhe letter Adesignates the shaft-journal to be lubricated, B the brass or bushing therefor, and C the supporting frame or boxing.

D designates a lubricant-reservoir, which is shown as cored in the frame-casing C and which extends underneath the bearing and up at each side of the same to about the level ofthe top of the brass or bushing B.

E designates downwardly and inwardly directed openings formed at opposite sides through the boxing C and bushing B and communicating at their outer and upper ends with the upper portions of the lubricant-reservoir D.

F designates a wick which lies in the reser- Voir D With its end portions bent Adownwardly and into the openings E. This wick is maintained in position by a flexible backing-strip fof metal or other suitable substance, having fngers f', which engage the boxing C in such a manner as to hold the end portions of the wick centrally in the open- Vings E and out of contact with the journal. The oil which rises in the wick by capillary action after passing through the bend f2 in the wick is aided in its discharge by the action of gravity, and the end of the Wick being free it will be constantly discharged into the pocket formed at the inner ends of said openings and in contact with the journal. The

4ends of the wick being thus positively held away from the journal are not affected by lits rubbing action and discharge oil freely so long as a sufficient quantity remains in the reservoir. The` arrangement is therefore particularly adapted to bea-rings which cannot be closely watched, as it may be depended upon to insure the proper supply of oil.

It is obvious that instead of usingl a continuous wick arranged as shown I 4may use separate wicks for the two sides of the bearings, also that other changes may be made in the details without affectingmy invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown.

Having thus described my invention,- what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v 1. The herein-described means for lubricating bearings, consisting in the combination with the bearing having an opening leading through to the shaft or journal to be 1ubricated, and an oil-reservoir underneath the said bearing, of a Wick immersed in saidreservoir and having its end portion extending into said opening, and a supporting device for said Wick engaging the bearing-frame and also the under side of the Wick and holding it entirely out of Contact with the shaft or journal. y

2. The combination With a journal-box, or shaftbearing having an opening leading therethrough to its contained journal or shaft, and an oil Well or reservoir With which said opening communicates, of a Wick immersed in said Well or reservoir and having an end portion extending into said opening, and a flexible backing-strip for said wick Whose end portion is extended into the said opening to hold the wick entirely out of contact with the shaft or journal, and which also has a finger engaging the box or bearing, substantially as described.V

3. In a lubricating device for bearings, the combination with an oil-reservoir underneath and at the sides of the bearings to be lubri- JOSEPH D. FORRER.

Witnesses:

CORA G. Cox, H. W. SMITH. 

